UPDATED 10.7.18 My 39/39 Challenge has ended.

[The Quadfather]

[quote="grubowski"]Nice! My wife and I were both offered jobs in Port Angeles before we were offered jobs down around Olympia. One of my main reservations about Clallam was the lack of bass. I’ve always been curious about it.

Out of curiosity, where did you get your bass in Grays Harbor? Not a ton of options in this county either.[/quote


I can relate to that kind of thinking..(whether or not the place offering the job had enough fishable bass lakes)

When I interviewed at a job in Tacoma, I went straight to the cafeteria to check out their ‘Biscuits and Gravy’. A portion of my taking the job came from the quality of the Biscuits and Gravy.

A guy has got to have some principles, fishing... good gravy, etc.

[grubowski]

That’s pretty funny stuff. I was happy to discover made to order omelettes at the cafeteria when I moved to day shift. Totally worth losing my differential

[8theB8]

My best friend was down in Long Beach all the time with his girlfriend way back and he got the wild hair to run out there with his jon boat. We fished Lake Sylvia and caught a few and we fished Duck Lake. We also fished Loomis Lake and Black Lake in Pacific County and caught a couple out of each. I always wanted to go back but the main draw of that area in the 90's was Duck Lake and I don't know what happened but it's not good.

[8theB8]

This was almost an extremely costly trip! 30 seconds earlier in Concrete WA and I'm piled up big time!

Very thankful the driver was fine and glad no one else (including myself) was involved! The tanker driver and I probably warned another 20 motorists with our flashlights...4-5 of those narrowly missed the truck and debris! Lots of hard braking and squealing tires at 5am!

As for the 'fishing'...well, if you're only going to catch ONE

https://youtu.be/s-VD3-rm844

[The Quadfather]

Glad to hear everyone is all OK.
So you collided with a tanker truck? I’m thinking not quite..? That would have been hard on a trailered boat.

[8theB8]

No, he impacted on the westbound side and knocked a jersey barrier into my lane and debris all over the right lane and shoulder!

I missed it all fortunately or everything would have been totalled including me!

[grubowski]

That's good to know there are some in Lake Sylvia. I'm actually moving to Montesano next week and I can practically walk there from our place. I'll definitely check it out (I don't mind catching some of the big trout in there either). That's sadly what I heard about Duck Lake too. I was hoping you'd hit it more recently and that it had gotten back on track. That's a shame.

Glad you were able to avoid the crash. That's pretty scary stuff.

[8theB8]

Thank you.

Bummer county to move to...fortunately you just like catching 'fish' and you're not specifically a "bass head" or I would advise your other half to hide the rope

Short-ish drive up or down the coast will get you into a little better bass but it's still fairly scattered over there. Good luck!

[grubowski]

I’m not too worried Thurston and Mason are pretty close and they have lots of opportunities, not to mention Lewis and Pierce if I’m up for a longer drive. I do like catching most anything, though bass are still my favorite for sure. The good thing about the area is there aren’t too many people and it’s more affordable, plus cooler weather in the summer.

[8theB8]

Took Friday off to run my RT to the shop for a once over....and to run to fish some counties of course! I propped the jon boat up with two automotive ramps in the bed of my truck so I could still tow the RT and headed south. After dropping the RT I continued south to Wahkiakum County and Elochman Marina. Someone sent me a couple photos of largemouth caught in the area so I had more confidence this time.

Once I was done there I continued south and east to my nemesis Klickitat County. Of course the wind was howling but this time I didn't care. I was committed mainly because I was just tired of driving there! I love to drive so that's saying something! The GoPro failed me again but that thing is headed for the trash can and I'm only using the Hero 4 for the last county....sooo irritating. I pieced enough together that you get a good idea of what happened but did not capture the official catch

It was the same bait as Wahkiakum and about the third cast! Awesome to check that one off!!!

Stayed Friday night in Yakima and spent Saturday morning on Myron Lake. Took a couple hours but I am officially down to only Island County!

Pics below and I will provide video links as well...

https://youtu.be/gl6_rGSmrDM

[8theB8]

Here's Klickitat

https://youtu.be/eC9bww9bz6A

[8theB8]

and Saturday Yakima

Only Island County left

https://youtu.be/QIYT6Abq4dQ

[The Quadfather]

Awesome adventure to follow. I enjoyed it. Thanks.

[tmusky1]

I feel like we're all reading a really good book, you want to keep reading but you also don't want to see it end. Will miss the updates and YouTube vids but also hoping for a strong finish. Give er hell

[8theB8]

I appreciate it everyone!!

I have mixed emotions closing it out...I'm happy and a little bummed. It's been a heckuva chase and something I looked forward to doing for so long that I can't believe it went by so fast...of course part of that was the plan

I'm working on encapsulating not just the quest but a lifetime of fishing adventures and lessons learned leading up to it in a book soon. No idea how long it will take to complete but hey, winter is coming and I will have plenty of down time to work on it.

We'll see... Thanks for following along all that did and thanks for all the support, it's been a blast!!

[8theB8]

I officially feel sorry for any bass fishing enthusiast that resides in Island County

I cannot understand how Skagit and Snohomish Counties can be as good as they are and Island County be so devoid of a decent bass fishery??

I fished and checked Goss Lake off the list on Tuesday, won't be back to that one. I drug my kayak back into Pondilla and only saw two fish, one I hooked, but it was probably a 10 incher? The other maybe went 6? INCHES! Won't be back there either. Currently I feel Cranberry Lake in the State Park and Deer Lake are the two "best" options....and that's not saying much.

The bees in the pads on Cranberry were so thick it was crazy! A couple tried going up my pant leg I may revisit that one when it's raining? I think Deer Lake holds fish and I may just pound that one until I figure it out and something happens? My last trip there yielded one little four incher. Good looking stuff there though!

I just wish these two lakes weren't at the complete opposite ends of the island from each other!! It seems like I have to choose one or the other? Deer is either 90 minutes plus a ferry ride/charge, or two hours driving around. Cranberry is just under an hour drive, but inside the State Park that seems to make its own rules weekly??

Gonna be a bugger, glad I saved this one for last

[8theB8]

Well, I'm going to call it. Island County is the black hole of bass fishing lol.

I got a couple cranking a drop off on Deer Lake yesterday but the biggest only went 0.7 pounds. Got skunked on Cranberry, biggest strike was maybe a half pounder?! I may hit it again next Spring just to make the catch "official" by breaking the pound mark but as far as I'm concerned

Was a great adventure! So many new areas discovered!! The Challenge absolutely served its purpose

Thanks for all the encouragement and support along the way, hope folks enjoyed tagging along!

[tmusky1]

Well done 8. How many miles did you rack up?
Did you discover anything that really surprised you? Is there one area or body of water that you just can't wait to return to without the time constraint?

[8theB8]

MILES???? Lost track but I know in one four week span it was over 3,000!

What surprised me was how distracted I became, how many techniques I left hanging and how long it actually took. Almost too much to mention in this answer....need to think.

Ozette Lake, Wahkiakum and Pend Oreille Counties are all HIGH on the b-back list!!!

Ozette is an absolute pain to get to, slow winding bumpy roads but I have a feeling it would be worth some vacation time.

Wahkiakum deserves another look as I discovered lots of areas to explore!

Pend Oreille County may be the best kept secret in Washington?! That place is loaded with fisheries and many of them have both large and smallmouth in them!

[bob johansen]

8theB8 , this sounds like an awesome quest and is right in line with why I started the web site so many years ago! I hope Bob sees this post. He would be touched and honored I'm sure. Could you send me a PM? I have a question....

I have been checking the latest reports but haven't been checking in on the forum. Been reading through it today and found it very interesting - wish I had kept in touch throughout the summer.
B8 has been doing a heck of a job - I'm sure he will be able to hit the 500 mark within a couple of years. I have 29 counties and maybe a couple more - depending on which side of the river I was fishing. I would like to list some of my county records for possible suggestions. At least 2 of the lakes are now closed to fishing - Crocker lake in Jefferson County and Royal Lake in Adams County.

1. Adams County - Royal Lake - 4 pounds - 2 ounces - canoe fishing
2. Benton County - Umatilla Lake - 5 pounds - 12 ounces - shoreline fishing
3. Chelan County - Dry Lake - 5 pounds - 14 ounces - canoe fishing.
4. Clark County - Battleground Lake - 12 inches - canoe fishing
5. Cowlitz County - 5 pounds - 0 ounces - Bass Tracker
6. Ferry County - Roberta Lake - 13 1/2 inches - Bass Tracker
7. Franklin County - Scooteney Res. - 13 1/4 inches - Bass Tracker
8. Grant County - Mallard Lake - 4 pounds - 4 ounces - Shoreline fishing
9. Grays Harbor County - Vance Creek ponds - 4 pounds - 13 ounces
10. Island County - Cranberry Lake - 13 1/4 inches. - canoe
11. Jefferson County - Crocker Lake - 3 pounds - 4 ounces - canoe fishing
12. King County - Klaus Lake - 6 pounds - 8 ounces - canoe
13. Kitsap County - Kitsap Lake - 7 pounds - 10 ounces - Bass Tracker
14. Klickitat County - Chamberlain - 8 pounds - 4 ounces - shoreline fishing
15. Lewis County - "Chehalis Lake" - 3 pounds - 8 ounces - canoe
16. Lincoln County - Deer Springs Lake - 13 inches - canoe
17. Mason County - Tee Lake - 5 pounds - 15 ounces - canoe
18. Okanogan County - Palmer Lake - 3 pounds - 2 ounces - Bass Tracker - Smallmouth
19. Pacific County - Loomis Lake - 3 pounds - 6 ounces - canoe
20. Pierce County - Bay Lake - 4 pounds - 10 ounces - Bass Tracker
21. San Juan County - Sportsman Lake - 3 pounds - 2 ounces - canoe
22. Snohomish County - Silver Lake - 6 pounds - 4 ounces - canoe
23. Skagit County - Beaver Lake - 5 pounds - 11 ounces - canoe
24. Skamania County - Tunnel Lake - 2 pounds - 11 ounces - shoreline fishing.
25. Spokane County - Newman Lake - 3 pounds - 9 ounces - Bass Tracker
26. Stevens County - Loon Lake - 1 pound - 14 ounces - Bass Tracker
27. Thurston County - Patterson Lake - 6 pounds - 10 ounces - Bass Tracker
28. Whatcom County - Whatcom Lake - 2 pounds - 12 ounces - Son Don's boat
29. Whitman County - Rock Lake - 3 pounds - 10 ounces - Son Don's boat